Stanref International

Our Story The engineering company Stanref closed on 29 March 2018, after 29 years in Bury St Edmunds , with a loss of 19 jobs. The company in Northern Way called in administrators on March 5 for the second time in five months, but time was running out with the factory lease due to expire in May. Steve Bickerstaff, Stanref engineering manager, said: “We would like to thank all of those who have tried to support us, especially family and friends. “Most importantly, I would like to praise all the workers at Stanref, leaving dignified, with kind hearted banter and goodwill among us.” He said the average staff length of service was 25 years. Stanref’s products are in the Royal Navy’s new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. Standard Refrigeration (Chicago) opened the Bury factory in 1989 to make its standard range of pressure vessels and heat exchangers. The final five-strong management team were in a management buy-out in 2001 and moved it into specialist pressure vessels for the oil and gas industry but as they paid off purchase debts in 2008 the global economic crisis hit. They cut staff from 36 to 24 and went into administration in October 2017, to be quickly taken over by venture capital company Damsle LLP. The company traded successfully as Stanref International (2017) Ltd, but again fell into administration at the beginning of this month after being unable to secure continued use of its current site beyond the end of May. Stanref director Adrian Howlett said: “Things were looking up for the business with a full order book and record sales last month but without business premises beyond the end of May we couldn’t continue to accept customer orders knowing the company would not be able to fulfil them.” Administrators from McTear Williams & Wood were seeking a buyer for the business as a going concern, but warned that this would almost certainly require a buyer which already has premises of its own. With no buyer on the horizon, the company had to close its door